Ballad of Seodong () is a South Korean television series starring Jo Hyun-jae, Lee Bo-young, and Ryu Jin. It aired on SBS from September 5, 2005 to March 21, 2006 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 55 episodes.
The period drama is based on Seodong-yo, said to be one of Korea's oldest folk songs and its first hyangga. According to the Samguk yusa ("Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms") from the Silla Kingdom, the song was written by Seodong, a commoner from the Baekje Kingdom. Hearing that Princess Seonhwa, daughter of King Jinpyeong of Silla, was beautiful, he writes a song saying that the princess visits Seodong's room every night, and it quickly spreads throughout the kingdom and beyond, until it reaches the palace in Silla. When her father hears the song, he condemns the innocent princess to exile. Seodong finds Seonhwa, marries her and takes her to Baekje, and they become the royal rulers of the country.
Plot Seodong is just a commoner, a technician who grew up in Baekje's prestigious science and technology institute Taehaksa, but his life is on the brink of extraordinary change. He meets and falls for Princess Seonhwa of the rival kingdom Silla, and his love for her transcends social position. Seodong also carries a secret that could alter the fate of the Baekje kingdom, but his rival Sataek Giru plots with Buyeo Seon to disrupt his plans.
Cast
Main: Jo Hyun-jae as Seodong (Wideok's youngest son, later King Mu of Baekje) Kim Seok as young Seodong Lee Bo-young as Princess Seonhwa of Silla (Jinpyeong's daughter) Choi Jin-ri as young Princess Seonhwa Ryu Jin as Sataek Giru / Kim Do-ham Kim Young-ho as Buyeo Seon (Buyeo Gye's son, later King Beop of Baekje) Lee Chang-hoon as Mok Ra-soo Jung Sun-kyung as Mo-jin Supporting: Lee Il-hwa as Yeon Ga-mo (Seodong's mother) Jung Wook as King Wideok of Baekje Jung Jae-gon as Prince Ah-jwa of Baekje (Wideok's oldest son) Park Tae-ho as Buyeo Gye (Wideok's younger brother, later King Hye of Baekje) Heo Young-ran as Princess Wooyoung of Baekje (Buyeo Gye's daughter, Buyeo Seon's younger half-sister) Han In-soo as Hae Do-joo Lee Byung-sik as Jin-ryeo Maeng Sang-hoon as Wang Gu Na Jae-woong as Ahtaek Geolchwi Son Joon-hyung as Baek Mu Im Hyun-sik as Maek Do-soo Baek Bong-ki as Beom-ro (Maek Do-soo's youngest son) Oh Seung-yoon as Beom-saeng (Maek Do-soo's oldest son) Koo Hye-sun as Eun-jin (Mo-jin's daughter) Lee Sook as Kook-soo Lee Seung-ah as Woo-soo Shin Gook as Ko Mo Song Young-yong as Ah So-ji Kim Yoo-jin as Joo Ri-young Byun Il-tae as Koyi Soji Choi Dong-joon as King Jinpyeong of Silla (Seonhwa's father) Kim Hwa-ran as Queen Maya of Silla (Seonhwa's mother) Lee Kyung-hwa as Princess Cheonmyeong of Silla (Seonhwa's older sister, Jinpyeong's daughter) Na Sung-kyoon as Kim Sa-heum (Kim Do-ham's father) Kim Jin-ho as Wi Song Ahn Yeo-jin as Bo-myung Noh Yoon as Cho-ki Seo Beom-shik as Seo-chung Sung Chang-hoon as Koo-san Lee Hee-do as Heuk Chi-pyeong Ha Sung-chul as soldier Kim Se-min as Jang-doo Ryu Sung-hoon as warrior Lee Hwan as butler Bang Kil-seung as Yak-san Yuny Han as Buyeo Seon's wife Han Bo-bae Jin Tae-hyun as Yoo-rim Kwon Yong-woon Park Kyung-hwan Kwon Hyuk Joo Min-soo Yoo Hyun-ji as young princess Seol Ji-yoon as technician So-young
Ratings In the tables below, the represent the lowest ratings and the represent the highest ratings.
Episode #Original broadcast dateAverage audience share (TNmS Ratings)NationwideSeoul National Capital Area1 1/2/2005 16.8% 18.2%2 2/2/2005 17.6% 19.0%3 3/2/2005 18.8% 21.6%4 4/2/2005 17.8% 20.1%5 5/2/2005 17.9% 19.8%6 6/2/2005 18.5% 19.8%7 7/2/2005 19.6% 21.6%8 8/2/2005 18.6% 19.5%9 9/2/2005 17.8% 18.6%10 10/2/2005 19.6% 21.6%11 11/2/2005 20.0% 21.6%12 12/2/2005 16.7% 17.4%13 13/2/2005 17.2% 18.1%14 14/2/2005 16.9% 18.2%15 15/2/2005 16.9% 17.7%16 16/2/2005 15.2% 16.6%17 17/2/2005 16.4% 17.5%18 18/2/2005 16.8% 17.6%19 19/2/2005 20 20/2/2005 16.4% 17.7%21 21/2/2005 15.6% 17.7%22 22/2/2005 14.6% 15.8%23 23/2/2005 16.5% 17.8%24 24/2/2005 16.9% 17.4%25 25/2/2005 17.4% 19.3%26 26/2/2005 17.1% 18.5%27 27/2/2005 16.5% 17.8%28 28/2/2005 16.8% 17.7%29 29/2/2005 17.1% 18.2%30 1/3/2005 18.1% 19.5%31 2/3/2005 18.7% 19.8%32 3/3/2005 19.3% 20.9%33 4/3/2005 20.9% 22.4%34 5/3/2005 23.1% 24.3%35 6/3/2005 21.2% 22.2%36 7/3/2005 23.8% 25.7%37 8/3/2005 23.0% 24.0%38 9/3/2005 22.9% 23.7%39 10/3/2005 21.6% 22.0%40 11/3/2005 24.1% 24.8%41 12/3/2005 23.7% 24.6%42 13/3/2005 22.2% 23.2%43 14/3/2005 22.9% 24.2%44 15/3/2005 21.3% 22.0%45 16/3/2005 25.4% 26.6%46 17/3/2005 23.3% 24.1%47 18/3/2005 23.6% 24.3%48 19/3/2005 22.9% 23.1%49 20/3/2005 25.3% 26.5%50 21/3/2005 25.2% 25.9%51 22/3/2005 52 23/3/2005 23.3% 24.5%53 24/3/2005 23.9% 25.1%54 25/3/2005 24.0% 25.5%55 26/3/2005 25.0% 26.0% Average 19.8% 21.0%
References
External links Ballad of Seo Dong official website